After the Wedding
by HR always live on
Summary: April / Jackson fic, set S10. It's April and Matthew's wedding day and Jackson realises he can't let the wedding go ahead. But this time, April makes a different decision to his declaration. I'm not usually a Grey's writer, so I'm nervous about this one!


**I don't usually write Grey's fics, but I was watching S10 for the first time and there was something I wanted to change. April / Jackson / Matthew. Set during April's wedding.**

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Jackson couldn't stand it any longer. He knew he'd left it until it was almost too late, but watching the woman he loved get married to another man was tearing at his heart. He had had no idea how much this would hurt, how much it would feel like he was being ripped to shreds. How could he have not realised until now how much he needed April? A few moments more and something snapped inside him. He stood up and spoke from the heart, ignoring the shocked gasps from everyone else.

"I love you, April. I always have. I love everything about you. Even the things I don't like, I love. And I want you with me. I love you and I think that you love me too. Do you?"

There was total silence as April felt her mouth opening and closing around unformed words, shock uppermost in her mind. She looked at him, closed her mouth and took a deep breath. Her eyes were shimmering, and she looked like she might cry.

"Jackson, you should leave," she said, her voice very quiet. It was a testament to how quiet everyone was that he could hear every word. "Now, please."

"What?!"

"We're getting married," April said, her voice still quiet. "I'd like you to leave."

"Do you want five minutes?" Matthew asked, glaring at April. She closed her eyes and sighed very heavily. "I will be right back," she said to her fiance, smiling through gritted teeth. She almost stomped out, grabbing Jackson by the arm. He had half a smile on his face, like he'd already won. It did nothing except annoy her even more.

Once she was outside, she turned to him and hissed at him. "What the hell do you think you're doing!"

"I can't do this, April," Jackson said. "I'm so in love with you. I can't stand by and watch you make the biggest mistake of your life. You can't marry him."

"And instead of telling me this in the months of my engagement, you decide the perfect time to say this is now?! Come on, Jackson, what are you trying to do to me?"

"Come with me," Jackson said. "Let's get away from here. Anywhere else. I love you."

"Stop saying that like it fixes everything! It doesn't."

"I love you," Jackson said yet again, his eyes looking like she could drown in them. "I know you love me, too. Tell me I'm wrong."

April took a deep breath before she spoke. "If you loved me, you wouldn't have wanted to ruin my wedding day like this. The wedding day I've been planning in my head for… what, twenty years? If you really loved me, true, selfless love, you would want me to be happy, even if that happiness wasn't with you. You're just… being selfish. You are doing this for you, not for me."

"Can you honestly tell me that you don't love me?" he asked, those gorgeous eyes boring into hers, daring her to lie to him.

"Jackson, you're my friend. You will always be special to me. You were my first. You were the first man I loved and you are my very best friend. How can you do this to me? Today? Do you really think Matthew is going to want you around our dinner table now? All those Christmas's and Birthday's and Thanksgivings for the rest of my life, I want to be able to see my best friend. My husband isn't going to want you to be there now. He's not going to want me to see you ever again. You've just robbed me of my best friend. Are you happy now, Jackson? If you wanted to ruin my wedding day, you couldn't have done a better job."

One word had buried itself in Jackson's brain and was going around in circles. April had said husband. "You're still marrying him?" he asked in disbelief.

"Jackson, you've had months to say something. Five minutes before I sign the marriage register is not the time to do it. He's perfect for me. He's right for me. He's a good, kind man who will make me happy for the rest of my life. Yes, I'm marrying him."

"Please don't," Jackson said. "I know you don't love him."

"I do love him. Please leave or I'll start crying and my make up will run. And in forty years time, when I'm looking back at our wedding photos and my smudged mascara, I'll remember why I'm crying." She shook her head and looked at the ground. "If you have ever cared for me at all, you will leave. Don't make things any worse."

He sighed and backed a step away from her. "In a week, or a month, or a year, you're going to realise this was a mistake. And I'm not going to be there for you."

"This is not a mistake. And even if it is, it's my mistake to make. Leave me alone." April turned away and headed back inside, leaving Jackson on his own. He waited for a moment, staring at the closed door, then left, walking in no particular direction. If she was going to make this catastrophic mistake, he couldn't be around to watch.

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April walked back to the altar and smiled at Matthew, grasping his hand. He was not smiling. "I'm not making you do this," he said. "If you want to go, then go."

"No one's making me do this," April said. "I want to marry you more than anything. Just because Jackson did… that, doesn't mean I feel the same for him. Please," she said, smiling now. "Please can we carry on?"

"Are you sure?" Matthew asked.

"I love you," she said. "I am so sure."

"Okay." He kissed April's cheek gently. "Where were we?" Matthew said, looking at the minister.

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 **More chapters to come. If anyone's interested in me continuing this, please leave a review to let me know!**


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